Cingife Castle

Cingife Castle, locally known as Cingife Kalesi, lies on a hill in the village of Yavuzeli, in the province of Gaziantep in Turkey.

Cingife Castle was built on what seems to be a tell; an artificial mound, offering wide views over the surrounding area. It is said to date back to the 9th century, when its name was Barzaman. At some point in time it was taken by the Byzantines.

Later it passed through the hands of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and the County of Edessa, a Frankish Crusader state, until 1150 when it was taken by the Muslims. During the 13th century it was occupied by the Mongols before being recovered by the Armenians, although they lost it again that same century.

The name Cingife is suggested to originate from the supposed fact that the village was originally a Genoese settlement, although I find it highly unlikely that this village could have been a settlement of the Genoese. The village of Yavuzeli was also known as Cingife until 1958. The Ottoman Sultan Selim I, also known as Yavuz Sultan Selim, stayed here while on his way to a campaign in 1517.

When visiting the site I saw foundations of walls surrounding the top of the mound and lots of rubble from collapsed walls but no architectural details.

Cingife Castle is freely accessible. But as the images show, there is not much to see. But it is situated directly next to the road between Gaziantep and Rumkale.

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